In 1995, Professor Chou et al. of current Princeton University have developed a new technology called nano-imprint lithography (Patent Document 1). The nano-imprint lithography is a technology in which an intended pattern is formed on the cured resin film by bringing a mold having any patterns into contact with a substrate on which a resin film is formed, pressurizing the resin film, and using heat or light as external stimulus. This nano-imprint lithography has advantages that nano-scale processing can be easily and inexpensively carried out as compared with photo-lithography in conventional semiconductor device production.
Therefore, instead of the photo-lithography, the nano-imprint lithography is a technology expected for application in a semiconductor device, an opto-device, a display, a memory medium, a bio-chip, and so forth. Thus, various curable compositions for photo-nano-imprint lithography used for nano-imprint lithography have been disclosed (Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3).
When a costly mold is used in the nano-imprint lithography, the mold is required to have longer lifetime. However, when peeling force of the mold from the cured resin film, that is, peeling force at the time of mold release (hereinafter abbreviated as “mold release force” in this specification) is large, a resin is easily attached to the mold and thus the mold tends to be unable to use. Therefore, a low mold release property (a property that a cured resin film is easily peeled from a mold) is required for the material used for the nano-imprint lithography (hereinafter abbreviated as an “imprint material” in this specification). Although various materials have been disclosed as the imprint materials, the materials having low mold release force have not been investigated or disclosed. For a product such as a solid state imaging device, a solar cell, an LED (light emitting diode) device, and a display, scratch resistance and high transparency may be required at the same time for a structure prepared as an optical member inside or at the surface of the product.